CHAPTER V 
MANURES 
‘‘ MANURES”’ may seem an unsavoury subject to 
those lovers of the Rose who only know of the 
flowers as seen in the garden or after they are cut ; 
but to the Rose-nurses, under whose constant care 
each shoot grows onwards to the perfect bloom, it is 
as important a matter as the food of a babe is to its 
mother. The Rose enthusiast, for whom I write, 
has no objection to exploring the recesses of a muck 
heap—he rejoices in the discovery of a dead well of 
really good stuff—and wonders much how others can 
find any objection to the wholesome and invigorating 
fragrance from a big watercart full of the drainings 
of a cow-shed. 
The Rose is said to be a gross feeder, but this does 
not seem a satisfactory statement, for though it will 
take and absorb, and ‘‘ answer to treatment’’ as 
doctors say, in the reception of large quantities of 
strong manure, yet is it fastidious in the manner of 
its application. The roots of the same plant which 
when strong and well established will rejoice in 
fairly strong liquid manure, will, when that plant is 
moved in November, become sickly and perhaps die 
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